Sundown Valley Ranch 2021

It has been over a year since I have had the opportunity to go to Sundown Valley Ranch. I always welcome the invite and the opportunity to experience the country lifestyle of central Texas. Feeding cows, spraying fence lines, loading feeders, repairing fences, looking for deer and hogs, and of course the fishing. The weather did not cooperate with the plans we had, but we made the most of it. Most of the chores that were on tap got done despite the continuous downpours and relentless wind.

As for the fishing, the weather seemed to slow things down a bit. The bass were still in a pre-spawn mode. They were hanging on the drop offs close to the bank. The larger fish on this trip were starting to move up to the spawning flats looking for a place to create a nest and lay their eggs. The cold winter seemed to have set back the clock on the fish spawning cycle this year. Normally they would be in full spawn mode with the bigger fish on the banks. The cooler weather and a lot of rain had the water cooler and dirtier than normal.

So the challenge was to weed through the smaller fish and find what the larger fish wanted to eat. My first lure of choice was a topwater lure. I caught a lot of smaller aggressive fish paralleling the banks the first morning. That afternoon I found the bigger fish on the flat among a few lily pads. The pads were sparse and trying to make a comeback after the big freeze late this winter. On the first day, I caught a total of 20 fish mostly in the two pound or less range. The next day started with glassy water early followed by some howling both winds. My goal was to catch a grass carp on a fly rod, but the water was way too muddy for me to see them and for them to see a fly. I switched to a conventional rod and a spinner bait. I thought the flash and vibration would trigger a bite in the muddy water. My largest fish that afternoon came on the flat among the lily pads. The spinner bait came to an abrupt halt and he took a short side ways run before succumbing to gears of my Concept reel. The total count for that day was about the same. That evening the sun peeked through the dark clouds to create a beautiful sunset, which Sundown Valley Ranch is known for.

On the last day, the winds started out light and gained momentum from the north as a front pushed its way through. The sun came out, and we had blue bird skies and a high barometric pressure. This usually makes the bass fishing a little more challenging. I had to resort to my old faithful. A shallow running crank bait made by Sixth Sense lure company in a shad color. That did the trick. All the fish caught that day escaped the Go Pro footage as my Scan Disk cards were full. I was relegated to the good ole cell phone pic for the rest of the day. The thump and sudden stop of a crank bait bite is one of my favorite ways to fish for any species.

I was hoping to see a rainbow with all the rain and clouds as the sun peeked through. My wife shared with me this morning a passage about rainbows from the book Reforesting Faith by Matthew Sleeth, MD. . He states and I quote: “The rainbow appears in the first and last book of the Bible (Genesis and Revelation). Revelation 4:3, written by the apostle John two thousand years ago, describes the rainbow as a circle of light surrounding the throne of God. But aren’t rainbows half circles, not full circles? From the viewpoint of humans standing on the ground, yes. But with the advent of flight in the last few generations, we can now see the full circle of the rainbow. While the Bible is not meant to be a science textbook, I find examples such as this one reassuring. A rainbow is all the light we can see symbolizing a God we cannot see.”

What a great perspective. I have always felt closer to God in all my outdoor experiences. The beauty of God’s creations can’t help but make you feel in awe of all he has done. I hope you get to get outdoors and experience God’s amazing creations with those around you. Thanks again to my brother-in-law for the invite to Sundown Valley Ranch. I always enjoy my time with family and friends there!

God bless you and thanks for reading my blog!

Enjoy the short video.

Tim Lumpkin

Blog: Legacy-outdoors.net

Instagram: @tlump10

YouTube Channel: Legacy-Outdoors